John and Bill’s journey uphill!

The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (I...

Two ol’ boys notorious for working hard and playing harder!

Charming blokes these two, with their cocky stride and disarming smile, and the airs of born superstars. Superstars they most certainly are, for while one’s professional prowess has kept the movie buff s rooting for him since some four decades, the other once ruled the world, well, almost. Unmistakably alike, John Travolta – the silver screen’s superstar – even depicted the other – former US President Bill Clinton, who celebrates his birthday on August 19 in a movie!

Clinton recognised his calling rather early in his life. While music came a close second, he chose public service against his saxophone when he was only 16. While his meeting with President John F. Kennedy in the White House – as a Boys Nation senator – was one event that influenced him, the other was Martin Luther King’s legendary speech – I Have A Dream – which he not only read but even went on to memorise.

Travolta too was all of 16, when with his parent’s blessings he dropped out of high school and patiently began to collect experience points by doing all sorts of roles that came along his way on Broadway. Opportunities opened up for working for TV shows and it was the role of Vinnie Barbarino in Welcome Back Kotter in 1975, that saw Travolta become a household name. Playing the bad-ass leader of a teenage gang, he turned out to be the star of the show, and became a favourite with youngsters. Soon a number of films came his way, and with each he perfected his swagger and established himself as the hottest hooligan on the block. He moved towards a more meaningful role in The Boy In The Plastic Bubble and also shift ed to a more mature role in his personal life, as he began dating Diana Hyland, who was 18 years his senior, and incidentally, played his mum in the movie!

Travolta’s career soared once Saturday Night Fever hit the theatres, where he captured the frustration and anguish of Tony Monero – a shop assistant by day and disco king at night – to a T, and of course he did dance like a God. Once Grease released, his status as a 70s icon was unquestionable. But in between Saturday Night Fever and Grease, just when most girls were beginning to find their Adonis in him, his lady love, Diana succumbed to Cancer. In the 80s, Travolta’s career suffered the worst patch possible with not only his movies bombing but even his acting abilities questioned.

It was of an affair of a totally different sort that turned Clinton’s world upside down though. His fling with White House intern Monica Lewinsky made it to the headlines and he vehemently denied her word until he was faced with DNA evidence, which he just couldn’t refute. Charged with perjury and obstruction of justice, he became the second US President ever to be impeached. But in February 1999, the Senate acquitted Clinton and he went on to finish his second term as President of USA.

Today, both of them have recovered from the worst troughs of their lives. On his personal front, Travolta discovered love again and went on to marry and have two children with actress Kelly Preston. Professionally, he found his footing once more after Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 movie Pulp Fiction became a major hit. Clinton managed to salvage his relationship with Hillary and ever since he stepped down as President, has reportedly amassed $40 million as mere fees for delivering speeches!

The deal is that just as Travolta has perfected the art of seducing people onscreen, Clinton knows how to work a room and make them bend in his favour. Both possess an irresistible charisma and an enigma that carries them across any bleak period, and the ladies of course, love their cockiness and disarming smile to death!

Edit bureau: Anu Gulmohar

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2007

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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